Dante VS Clive is the upcoming 202nd episode of Death Battle, featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series and Clive Rosfield from the Final Fantasy series in a battle between vengeful, demonic sword-wielders.
Interlude[]
Ringmaster shouts...
The screen then statics into playing the Death Battle intro.
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Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates  
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Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Dante[]
Wiz: It's a dangerous world out there. Cultists, demons, and evil businessmen lust for power, and every day brings a new cataclysm humanity must face.
Boomstick: This world may seem like the end, but for a Devil Hunter like Dante, it's party time! Who'd expect anything less from the son of the legendary demon Sparda?
Wiz: A dark knight who, thousands of years ago, woke up to justice and sealed away the demon lord, Mundus.
Boomstick: But then, Sparda mysteriously died, and his wife got iced by some demons, leaving Dante and his brother Vergil separated.
Wiz: Despite a long-gone family, Dante kept a chipper attitude, and set up a business dedicated to one thing...
Boomstick: Killing demons! And with the blood of Sparda running through him, he's the best in the business.
Wiz: By harnessing his own demonic energy, Dante bolsters his speed, power, and durability, letting him block kaiju-sized punches, move faster than a meteor...
Boomstick: And regenerate like an unstoppable force of nature. As long as he has the energy, he can heal from getting shot, stabbed, sliced through; basically anything.
Wiz: Even without his regeneration, he survived heat that would reduce the layman to ash.
Boomstick: But no hunter is complete without an arsenal, and Dante's got one hell of a sword left by his dad: Rebellion. Plus, Ebony and Ivory, two magic pistols with endless ammo clips. And they say the perfect gift doesn't exist!
Wiz: But Dante's full arsenal is far larger, and... stranger.
Boomstick: Like King Cerberus, a shapeshifting set of elemental nunchakus; Cavaliere, a pair of buzz saws that are also a motorcycle; Balrog, fiery fisticuffs for boxing and capoeira; and Nevan, a... guitar. An electric guitar!
Wiz: There's also Lucifer, a backpack of endless laser swords that Dante got after slaying... Actually, we never see how he beat Lucifer.
Boomstick: Yeah, you know someone's a badass when they offscreened the actual Devil. Then there's my fave, Dr. Faust, a sentient hat that turns Dante into basically Orville Peck. Oh, and shoots crystallized demon blood!
Wiz: Dante needed this and much more when he got a warm welcome from the brother he thought long dead. In a twist of fate, Vergil was alive, but went down a very different path.
Boomstick: While Dante was partying, Vergil studied the blade, seeking the power he needed to exert his will, even if it meant killing his own brother, something he came close to doing in their first meeting.
Wiz: But the defeat only spurred Dante's awakening. He learned to teleport using Trickster, slow down time through Quicksilver, and double-team foes with Doppelganger.
Clive Rosfield[]
Wiz: Sit down as we tell the tale of the kingdom of Rosaria, and its prince, Clive Rosfield, a man destined to be a Dominant, the host to a mighty guardian Eikon.
Boomstick: Anybody who's a Dom can draw on magic life juice called "aether", becoming a big, scary monster!
Wiz: And commanding the element they embody to create storms, slay armies, and split the sea. Dominants are forces of nature, and Clive would be the Dominant of the Phoenix.
Boomstick: Well, he was supposed to, but Big Bird said, "No thanks," and instead picked his sick little brother, Joshua. Parents don't play favorites, but I guess ancient monsters can.
Wiz: Despite the rejection (and a deep loathing from his mother, Anabella), Clive and Joshua were only kind to one another. Clive saw the burden his brother bore and accepted his Blessing of the Phoenix in hopes of becoming Joshua's shield.
Boomstick: Meaning, he learned a bunch of magic. He can shoot fire, teleport with Phoenix Shift, and took down this beast before he was even out of puberty!
Wiz: Even without magic, Clive's a capable swordsman, able to boost his speed and perception with Precision Dodge. But it wasn't enough when Anabella betrayed Rosaria for the Empire of Sanbreque. In one night, Clive's knights, people, and his own father were slaughtered before him.
Boomstick: Quick! Someone use a Phoenix Down!
Wiz: Uh, those aren't in this game.
Boomstick: Well, that's unfortunate. But the Phoenix Eikon sure is, 'cause the trauma of everything made poor Joshua lose control.
Wiz: Clive wanted nothing more than to help his brother, and perhaps this desire awakened the Eikon that was in him all along: the fiery beast Ifrit.
Boomstick: Boy, is Ifrit a wild one! Just standing nearby will incinerate the average Joe. It can make fire barriers, regenerate lost limbs, decimate foes with a flaming Spirit Bomb, and shatter a walking mountain!
Wiz: The downside being, Clive couldn't control it. He didn't even remember becoming Ifrit, or battling the Phoenix in a fight that reduced everything he loved to cinders, leaving Joshua presumed dead.
Boomstick: If that wasn't bad enough, dear old Ma found him the next day and made him a slave to Sanbreque's army. Clive spent 13 years wallowing through life, searching for Ifrit's host for revenge, only to learn the one he wanted to kill was... himself.
Wiz: This revelation hit Clive like a Phantom Train. He thought death was all he deserved for taking the lives of Joshua and so many others. Even so, there was a light at the end of the tunnel...
A cutscene plays of Clive rescuing Gav.
Wiz: Uh, n-no, not like that.
Boomstick: Thanks to his friend Jill, the outlaw Cid, his doggo Torgal, and a very therapeutic battle with his self-hatred, Clive learned to carry the torch for his brother, fighting the real problems plaguing his world: crystals and racism!
Wiz: In the world of Valisthea, prejudice is alive and well for Bearers; basically, anyone who can use magic without special crystals.
Boomstick: So, what better way to dismantle the system than to help fellow Bearers and destroy the Mothercrystals ruining the planet, all while picking up some nifty abilities?
Wiz: Through a mysterious power that lets him absorb Eikons, Clive took Garuda, an avian with sharp slashes and sharper talons. From Cid, he received Ramuh, so he could summon lightning.
Boomstick: From his bae Jill, he got Shiva to freeze lava and even time itself. With Titan, he can block and absorb blows with earth-shattering fists. From this dragon prince, he got Bahamut and some deadly lasers.
Wiz: And through Odin, he can slow the flow of time and slice apart the fabric of space.
Prelude[]
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
Death Battle[]
Results[]
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is...
Original Track[]
Composition[]
The track to the fight is "???" by ???.
Title[]
The title references...
Cover Art[]
The cover art depicts...
Trivia[]
Production[]
- The core connections between Dante and Clive is that they are vengeful video game protagonists who both wield a legendary oversized ancestral sword passed down to them that they use with great skill and proficiency (Rebellion and Invictus, respectively) and possess incredible superhuman abilities that they inherited from a powerful demonic being (Sparda and Ifrit, respectively) used in fighting styles that are stylish and flashy. In addition:
- They acquire and wield the powers of monster-like beings that they defeated for themselves (Demons and Eikons).
- They possess monstrous-looking transformations which further increases their immense destructive powers (Devil Trigger + Sin Devil Trigger for Dante and Limit + Ifrit for Clive).
- They are the sons of a powerful and highly influential ruler of their respective worlds (Sparda, who is the Feudal Lord of Fortuna and Elwin Rosfield, who is the Archduke of the Grand Duchy of Rosaria).
- They lived happy ordinary lives until tragedy had struck in their lives where the “evil forces” killed their families as well as brought further ruins to their lives and homes when they were young, leading them to be traumatized and swore revenge against those that had wronged them (Dante’s mother - Eva was killed during an attack by demons sent by Mundus at their house and Clive’s father - Elwin was killed during an invasion by the Holy Empire Of Sambreque along with Clive himself being sold as a slave soldier to them by his mother - Annabella against his will).
- They gone through an episode of being tragically separated from their brothers whom they cared about deeply and had a close bond with, feeling a great sense of guilt of not being able to save them as they believed they were dead at one point in time, but would end up reuniting with them where they turned up alive and after sometime they would reconcile their relationships with them (Vergil and Joshua Rosfield).
- They both had a close relationship with a female companion who has strong ties to their past and often aided them in their time of need (Trish - a demon heroine created by Mundus to resemble Dante’s deceased mother and Jill Warrick - a young woman who came to be Clive’s surrogate sister after being adopted into the royal Rosfield family).
- For a time they had rejected the “great power” that was given to them, afraid that it could transform them into “monsters” that is from beyond return, but would soon come to accept it as part themselves and master that gift to be able to not only protect humanity, but also those they care about (Dante accepting his demonic side and Clive accepting that he is Ifrit himself).
- They confronted and faced the deities who threatened their respective worlds and were the same ones responsible for bringing much hardships and tragedies to their lives (Mundus and Ultima).
- They are rebellious yet noble and selfless heroes who uphold their strong values of justices and while their lives may be riddled with guilt and tragedies; what continues to drive them forward is their strong love for their friends and loved ones, willing to go through extreme lengths to ensure their protection from them so that none would ever have to under go the same burdens and hardships they did.
- This is also a battle of opposites as Dante was loved by his mother very much without any favoritisms while Clive was spited by his who favors his younger brother. Furthermore, Dante became his brother's arch-nemesis while Clive had an extremely strong brotherly bond with his.
- Both have had guest appearances in the Tekken series, with Dante appearing in Tekken 7 as a special costume for Miguel and Clive being a guest character in Tekken 8.
- Final Fantasy XVI 's combat system was inspired on Devil May Cry 5 , as both games were designed and worked on by Ryota Suzuki
- Ryota said on an interview on 2023 for Game Informer that Clive would beat Dante if they were to get into a fight.
Other[]
- This is the second Square Enix VS Capcom-themed episode, after Sephiroth VS Vergil.
- This is the 41st episode to feature a returning combatant, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Batman VS Captain America, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Pokémon VS Digimon, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Ryu VS Jin, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Mega Man Battle Royale, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Ganondorf VS Dracula, Deadpool VS Mask, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Shadow VS Ryuko, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Boba Fett VS Predator, Excalibur VS Raiden, Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, Goku VS Superman (2023), Omni-Man VS Bardock, Bowser VS Eggman, Ghost Rider VS Spawn, Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, Spider-Man VS Deku, and Hulk VS Godzilla, with the next two being Aang VS Traveler, and Ash VS Yugi.
- This is the 27th episode to feature a returning winner, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Ganondorf VS Dracula, Deadpool VS Mask, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Venom VS Crona, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Excalibur VS Raiden, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, Goku VS Superman (2023), Omni-Man VS Bardock, Ghost Rider VS Spawn, Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, and Hulk VS Godzilla and with the next one being Aang VS Traveler.